No more masks in classrooms - hurray!

[TeddingtonTrashbag]

Hurray!
I am a secondary teacher and just hope it really happens.

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/05/06/exclusive-end-masks-classroom-boris-johnson-defies-unions/

@Thunderpunt

I hope this is true, my son might start wearing his hearing aids again. He currently refuses to as each time he has to remove his mask they ping out and embarrass him. So he can't hear, can't lipread and just refuses to go maskless as the teachers who don't know him are constantly on at him to show his exemption card, embarrassing him further. This is good news for us for sure!

That's awful.

But easily rectified.

Dear HT,

My ds is HI. He will not be wearing a mask and is exempt.

If anyone challenges him again with regards this I will be taking action via a solicitor under the equality act. Your staff should be fully aware of this due to your records.

That you for your co operation with this matter.

@itsgettingwierd you make it sound so easy. The school are more than happy for him to not wear a mask, but when you have supply teachers in and out, a school of over 1200 pupils - you can't expect every teacher to know my son is exempt so it's natural he will be questioned.
Plus he doesn't want to not wear one as that makes him stand out as well. It's hard enough being a 14 year old boy with a disability, the wearing of masks has made it worse (especially as i now have the uphill battle of getting him to start wearing the HA again once masks are outlawed)

So, reading comments here from teachers, if masks aren’t suitable for learning and outdoors learning isn’t doable, then perhaps we should go back to online learning for the next couple of months only, just until the vaccines have been rolled out. Then if 12-16 yo can be vaccinated in September it’ll be much safer. That way we can avoid this new variant, save lives and children’s long-term health.
I know it’s a nightmare for everyone involved, double work for teachers and working parents, but the end is in sight now.

[quote Thunderpunt]@itsgettingwierd you make it sound so easy. The school are more than happy for him to not wear a mask, but when you have supply teachers in and out, a school of over 1200 pupils - you can't expect every teacher to know my son is exempt so it's natural he will be questioned.
Plus he doesn't want to not wear one as that makes him stand out as well. It's hard enough being a 14 year old boy with a disability, the wearing of masks has made it worse (especially as i now have the uphill battle of getting him to start wearing the HA again once masks are outlawed) [/quote]
It is hard. Did he try the mask with the connector worn at the back? my hearing impaired father hated the straps over the ears for the same reason as your son but gets on OK with the connectors. They are the little things you see lots of medical staff wearing in hospital.

I don’t think that’s a good idea Daisy. Too many children are far behind as it is. I think if any teacher is particularly vulnerable they should be permitted to be off on full pay until they are vaccinated but then they should have been vaccinated already really.

Wearing a mask is such a simple action to help prevent the spread. It is astounding that some people can't grasp that.

@Toomanymuslins it’s not just about the teachers though is it, if a school has 100 pupils testing positive. A reasonable percentage of people get long COVID so I assume a couple of pupils in that 100 may end up with long term health conditions.

If it protects people from A DEADLY SERIOUS KILLER ILLNESS the what are we celebrating removing one of the easiest steps we have to help prevent it spreading?

Oh get a grip, average age of death is like 85. Sars Cov 2 is a mild illness in 99% of people. Stop reading the daily mail.

That's great news!!!

@Sidesaladofchips correct. If masks are used properly which they are not!!!

@duffeldaisy you are suggesting they close the schools .. ??? 😡

@ceeveebee

Perhaps the fact that 100 pupils out of 900 have caught it whilst wearing masks proves that they don’t actually work?

Quite

@duffeldaisy

So, reading comments here from teachers, if masks aren’t suitable for learning and outdoors learning isn’t doable, then perhaps we should go back to online learning for the next couple of months only, just until the vaccines have been rolled out. Then if 12-16 yo can be vaccinated in September it’ll be much safer. That way we can avoid this new variant, save lives and children’s long-term health. I know it’s a nightmare for everyone involved, double work for teachers and working parents, but the end is in sight now.

Fuck that, seriously.

Online learning must never be allowed to happen again.

Exactly ineedaholiday. It’s about 13-15% of children who get symptoms longer than 5 weeks, so there are likely to be some who will be affected for some time by this.

Toomanymuslins yes, teachers should have been prioritised for jabs. But it does still affect children and wider community too. It’s so hard to find a way of keeping everyone safe.
(Although, grumble, the gov could have allowed councils to use empty buildings like offices/church halls & to employ more staff to allow classes more space to spread out.

@murbblurb really you expect a 11 year old yo not fiddle with someone that is on their face all day long??? Really????

My sons school year closed - there were all wearing masks so I say it's bloody pointless!!!

God I hope so.

There are always going to cases with in schools and come to it any other working environment when people go back into offices. But that doesn't mean that our children's education needs to be even more affected.

@murbblurb

Because we have a generation of disobedient brats who don't do as they are told. New mask or clean mask at least once a day (hopefully more), on properly, don't fiddle with it. I see them on the bus all in chinstrap mode. Same as their fuckwit parents.

And so are some adults. But that doesn't mean everyone else suffers.

Should have scrapped them fir the GCSE students. Not fair making them do exams in masks.

There's no way my kids will be covering their faces or getting injected with something new and only emergency approved.

They aren’t ‘brats’

@murbblurb

Because we have a generation of disobedient brats who don't do as they are told. New mask or clean mask at least once a day (hopefully more), on properly, don't fiddle with it. I see them on the bus all in chinstrap mode. Same as their fuckwit parents.

You're saying most adults do this?! 😂 they shove them in pockets/bags and even drop them on the ground and put them back on. They are a breeding ground for bacteria. They are ridiculous... glad I'm exempt.

upandout - it's not new. The AZ vaccine is based on one that's been in use safely for over a decade. They had exactly the same amount of testing that they normally do over several years, the difference being they didn't have to wait for months and months in between every stage for the next lot of money.
To be passed for use they have to have that same amount of testing. And they all have. I'm not trying to push the vaccine, but it's simply untrue to say it's untested/less tested than all the other vaccines that have been approved over the years, or a trial still.

@Onceuponatime1818

Surely this means no more masks in shops, factories, buses, planes, shopping malls etc.

No because funnily enough, you are not a child trying to get an education via a teacher and class discussion in a shop or on a bus.